Beyond Blue #6 An Encounter With the Past
by Casey
Summary: A senior constable is transferred to Mt Thomas for unknown reasons, there is tension between him and Tess and Tess relives a horrible event that happened in the past but will help come in time?


Beyond Blue #6  
An Encounter With The Past  
  
  
~*~  
  
Summary: A senior constable is transferred to Mt Thomas for unknown reasons, there is tension between him and Tess and Tess relives a horrible event that happened in the past but will help come in time?   
  
~*~  
  
Tess looked into his eyes, there was a coldness in them but yet these eyes, this face reminded her of a long ago yesterday. Tess shook his hand as she greeted him. He turned around to meet his other colleagues, Tess saw the scar across the back of his neck. Fear flickered across Tess's face, Tess now knew who exactly who he was now. He was the man that had haunted, tortured her in her dreams, causing her to twist and turn and scream in the silence of the night only to end up suddenly waking up, dreading the next day.  
  
At the end of the shift, the Senior Sergeant asked Tess for her judgement on the new bloke, naturally the whole station wanted to know what their sergeant thought of him.  
  
"I have yet to come to a conclusion," Tess hated him, it even showed. "I will pass my judgement sometime in the near future." Tess couldn't think of a good enough reason to get him transferred, yet. "I will closely monitor Senior Constable Chambers of the next few days or weeks." Tess held onto her authority, showing him who was the boss, not like in the past. The past. The past was too horrible for Tess, everyone who she loved had been taken away from her, all of the abuse, the yelling, the screaming and the hiding all Tess had now was her job, the only thing she loved although cheeky Constable Jones was out to prove her wrong.   
  
Later that night, Tess didn't go to the pub with the others instead she stayed home with hopes of getting an early night. As she slept, the old nightmare came back but this time it was different...  
  
There was a loud bang. Tess screamed as she watched the bullet go straight through her head, she fell like a sack of potatoes to the ground.  
  
"Anna," Tess whispered at the dead body, tears began to run down her cheeks. Anna's blood stained the ground. Tess suddenly felt the cold gun barrel been pressed to the back of her head, she stiffened up. Tess slowly reached for her gun but it was gone!  
  
"Don't move Tess," Glen hissed. "Get up!"  
  
Tess slowly got up, as she did she unclipped her baton. When she got up, Tess swung her baton around the back of her, an instant later Tess heard the cold hard metal connect with human flesh. Glen fell down, getting hit in the back of his knees with a heavy duty piece of metal does hurt. Tess ran off down the alleyway.  
  
"You little bitch!" He yelled at Tess's retreating back.  
  
Tess ran for her life, well, her life did depend on it. The tears still flowed. How could he, how could he, Tess thought over and over again. Her breath was soon laboured, she wasn't exactly the long-distance runner but fear of the very worst powered her, slightly. Then the skys above opened up and rain poured down, slowly first, but then heavier and heavier, drenching Tess to the bone. After many more minutes, which felt like hours to Tess, she reached the graveyard, Tess told her exhausted body to hide behind a gravestone. Glen finally reached the graveyard and stopped, meters from Tess's hiding spot, his eyes scanned the landscape for any sign, even the slightest of movement.  
  
"Senior Constable Gallagher, why don't you come out and play?" he taunted. "How about a game of hide and go seek?"   
  
Glen prowled around the small cemetery. Tess snuck from gravestone to gravestone hoping to make it to the bush where she could hopefully lose him. When Glen's back was turned, Tess made a dash for it. She ran towards the fence. Glen heard the sudden movements behind him, he spun around and gave chase.   
  
"So we get to play chasey now?" He said, his voice full of excitement.   
  
Tess climbed over the waist high wooden fence and to her horror, Glen jumped it in one great leap. He was upon her in seconds, he forced Tess to the ground. Tess was rolled onto her back, Glen pinned her to the ground. Tess struggled but soon stopped, sensing it was useless, he had her. The rain continued to fall, turning the sand into brown sludge. Tess couldn't see his face, it was too dark, but Tess knew his expression would be of victory. There was a sudden noise, Glen spunn around. Tess pulled out her trusty pocket knife and slashed at the back of his neck. Glen grabbed the knife off of her. He put a hand onto the back of his neck, he left it there for a few seconds then removed it. He looked at it, a line of blood ran across his hand.  
  
"That'll scar," he pulled a butchers knife out from somewhere, it gleamed in the moonlight.   
  
"Why are you doing this?" Tess bravely asked.  
  
"You know. Who would suspect young constable Chambers of killing two coppers tonight?" His maniacal laughter echoed through the night, fear spread through Tess's body. "Your scared aren't you?"  
  
He hoisted the knife into the air, his face moved out of the shadows and into the moonlight. It wasn't Glen it was, Jack. He brought the knife down, aimed at Tess's neck. A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. Tess screamed.  
  
Tess sat up. Someone was sitting on the edge of her bed, Tess scuttled sideways in fright but she ended up tangling herself in her blankets even more.  
  
"Hey Tess, it's alright," came a soothing voice.  
  
"Don't do that Evan. Evan? What are you doing here?" Tess suddenly realised who it was.  
  
"You seemed edgy at work today,"  
  
"How did you get in?"  
  
"I know where you keep the spare key," he said in a cheeky manner. "What did you dream about?" Tess didn't say anything. "Come on, let the cat out of the bag." Tess insisted it was nothing, just a bad dream and that Jonesy could do nothing to help. "It sometimes helps to tell people about this type of things."   
  
Tess launched into the story (but she left out the bit about Jack, fearing that it may lead to unwanted questioning) at the end Jonesy pulled Tess into a tight hug.   
  
"Never fear, I'm here." Jonesy said, Tess managed a small giggle. "You know what you need?"  
  
"What?" Tess asked.  
  
"Tender Loving Care,"  
  
"I do still want to be a cop in Mt Thomas."  
  
"But who said the boss has to know?"  
  
~*~  
  
"Why don't you take Chambers out on patrol?" Tom asked.  
  
"Well I can't, I said to Constable Jones earlier that we could go out on patrol." Tess said, hoping that Jonesy would catch on.  
  
"Please yourself," Tom muttered, disappearing into his office.  
  
"You must really be terrified of Glen," Jonesy said once they were in the patrol car.  
  
"He is a ruthless killer, I don't want to be alone with him,"  
  
"Fair enough, why does he want to kill you?"  
  
"Can you just drop it?"  
  
"No. I'm a friend and any friend would be concerned if someone else was trying to kill her."   
  
"Ok, ok, just promise me not to tell anyone,"  
  
"Your secret is safe with me," Tess looked at him.  
  
~*~  
  
"Sergeant could I have a word?" Glen asked Tess the next day. "Outside please,"  
  
"Yes?" Tess asked once they were outside.  
  
"Why are you avoiding me?"  
  
"I thought that was obvious,"   
  
"I've changed,"  
  
"How am I supposed to trust a man that has tried to kill me?!" Tess's yell silenced the birds, Tess stormed back inside the station.  
  
Tess sat in her chair and put her head in her hands, she didn't care that the whole station was looking at her in strange faces, she snapped at anyone she caught looking at her in the wrong way. Tess's mind was reeling, it was only two years ago that she was almost murdered. Tess came to Mt Thomas to escape him. Maybe I should lure him into a trap, Tess thought. Tess pondered for quite some time but in the end she came up with a plan, it was dangerous. Tess got up to see P.J but then got cold feet, it couldn't possibly work without someone getting hurt, Tess thought.  
  
Over the following days, it was evident to everyone that Glen was trying to make friends with Tess but Tess wouldn't hear it. P.J sensed it was something deeper than "I'm just laying down the line for the new cop." P.J has tried to talk to her about it but every time he tried Tess would change the subject, P.J began to believe that Tess had a bad encounter with Glen in the past and came off the worst. P.J didn't know how right he was.  
  
~*~  
  
It had been five days since Glen's arrival in Mt Thomas, in those five days she snapped at Glen many more times than she snapped at Jonesy whilst working on the Anderson case, which happened to be the case when tempers had run high and tension amongst the officers at breaking point. There was obvious tension between Tess and Glen but yet no-one could work out what was causing it even P.J, the almighty detective, was stumped. Jonesy knew what was causing it but he promised Tess that he wouldn't say a thing, Jonesy was always looking for opportunities to gain Tess's trust.  
  
  
When Tom arrived he also wanted to now the same with the rest of the station. Tess simply told them that she heard a loud crash coming from the outside, when she went to investigate she was hit on the head with a heavy object. When she woke up, she was all alone and ended walking back to Mt Thomas. Glen also showed up at work the same day. Tom asked Tess for her judgement on Glen. Tess thought hard and finally came up with an answer.  
  
"The sack," she said simply. "For reasons I wish not to share with the world but I don't have the power to sack anyone so my judgement will be demotion and transfer."  
  
"No!" Jo and Ben said together, they had taken quite a liking for Glen.  
  
"Sergeant, in my office," Tom ordered. They walked into Tom's office, Tess could feel eyes watch her. Tess shut the door behind her. "What the hell is wrong with you lately?"  
  
"You remember Sergeant Anna Chaplin, shot dead for no apparent reason in Shepparton two years ago?" Tess asked.  
  
"Sort of,"  
  
"Senior Constable Chamber's shot her,"  
  
"But the trial came up with suicide."  
  
"I saw her get shot, Chambers then turned a knife on me. The jury said I was making things up when I said it, they said that I just saw my best friend shoot herself and I would blame it on anyone else but her. He tried to kill me. I don't trust him, I feel my life is threatened boss."  
  
~*~  
  
"Where's the sarge?" Jonesy asked the day after Glen got transferred.  
  
"Right here," Tess entered the station, Jo muttered. "If you knew what he has done, you'd be happy that he is gone."  
  
"Looks like it'll rain today," Ben broke up the argument before the claws could come out, at that very moment a clap of thunder echoed through the sky. "A storm in the middle of summer."  
  
The day went on. When the heelers weren't doing anything, they would watch the lightning Jonesy even ran down to the shops to get some microwave popcorn. Nothing much happened until right before knock off time, the only thing that happened was the phone rang.  
  
"Mt Thomas Station, Sergeant Gallagher speaking," there was a pause. "Are you sure? (pause) we'll be right there." Tess hung up. "Gunshot fires on Tinkershot drive."  
  
The heelers put on bullet proof vests and jumped into the police cars and zoomed off. The sun was quickly setting, it turned the sky into a rainbow of colours. Tess simply loved sunsets especially when there are clouds in the sky.  
  
The heelers arrived at the apartment where the shots were said to have come from. They climbed out of the cars and spread out, guns at the ready. Tess wondered down an alleyway. Tess could see a lump of something a bit further up, Tess ran up to investigate. When Tess arrived at where the lump was, she got a nasty shock. Lying dead in a pool of blood was Tina Fulton. Tess check for a pulse but she couldn't find any.  
  
Tina's blood stained the ground. Tess felt a cold gun been pressed to the back of her head. Tess stopped still  
.  
"Drop the gun," Glen hissed. "Get up!"  
  
Tess obediently dropped her gun and slowly got up, as she got up Tess unclipped her baton. Tess swung her baton around the back of her, seconds later Tess heard the metal connect with human flesh. Glen fell down.  
  
"You little bitch!" He yelled at Tess retreating back.  
  
Tess bolted, her life did depend on it. Tess bolted down the alleyway, Tess knew that she was on her own, help was the other way and Tess knew that Glen wouldn't let her get back to her colleagues, not again, Tess thought over and over again. Her breath was laboured, she wasn't exactly the long-distance runner but fear of the very worst powered her, slightly. Then the skys above opened up and rain poured down, slowly first, but then heavier and heavier, drenching Tess. After many minutes, which felt like hours to Tess, she reached the graveyard, Tess told her exhausted body to hide behind a gravestone. He finally reached the graveyard and stopped, meters from Tess's hiding spot, his eyes scanned the landscape for any sign, even the slightest of movement.  
  
"Sergeant Gallagher, why don't you come out and play?" he taunted. "Just like last time." Glen prowled around the small country town cemetery. Tess snuck from gravestone to gravestone hoping to make it to the bush, where she could lose him and hopefully return to her friends. When Glens back was turned, Tess made a dash for it. She ran towards the bush. Glen heard the sudden movements behind him, he spun around and gave chase. "So much like before."  
  
Glen was upon her in seconds, he forced Tess to the ground. Tess was rolled onto her back, Glen pinned her to the ground. Tess struggled but soon stopped, sensing it was useless. Tess screamed and screamed, hoping to be heard above the thunder. The rain continued to fall, turning the sand into sludge.   
  
"Why are you doing this?" Tess bravely asked.  
  
"Revenge. It took me years to become senior constable and you took it way from me in seconds." His maniacal laughter echoed through the night. Fear spread through Tess's body. "Your scared aren't you? Just like last time, but this time I'll kill you."  
  
He hoisted the knife into the air, his face moved out of the shadows and into the moonlight. A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. Tess screamed.  
  
"Put the weapon down!" came the angry yells of four police officers, guns at the ready. Glen dropped the knife and bolted, Ben and Jonesy gave chase.  
  
"Are you alright?" Jo asked, helping Tess up.  
  
"I am ok but Tina Fulton isn't," Tess replied.  
  
"We found her, poor Haley."  
  
Ben and Jonesy had run down Glen. Ben pinned him down and cuffed him. "You are under arrest for the murder of Tina Fulton and the attempted murder of Sergeant Gallagher."  
  
Haley and Daren were told about their mother's death the very next day. As you can imagine neither of them were very pleased. Glen was kicked out of the police force and sent to jail but who knows how long he will stay in there...  
  
THE END 


End file.
